Choice of Kennedy for Senate No Longer Seems Inevitable

Interviews with more than a dozen people who have met or spoken with her in recent weeks as she zigzagged across the state reveal a fairly uniform portrait of the private Ms. Kennedy in her first turn as a very public woman. Most described her as courteous but reticent, unfailingly gracious but not exactly passionate.

Her whirlwind introduction has raised some doubts about her temperament and political hunger, in contrast to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who expressed her desire for the job in 2000 and how hard she was willing to work to get it. And her vague answers laced with hundreds of “you knows” haven’t helped. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — himself of “um” troubles — defended her tendency to sprinkle her speech with filler words, notes The New York Post and The New York Times.

Kevin Sheekey, Mayor Bloomberg’s top political aide, is pulling back on his lobbying campaign to propel Ms. Kennedy into the Senate because it isn’t having the desired impact, The Daily News and The New York Post report. The News’s spin is that it is at the request of the Kennedy camp, while The Post makes it seem more a City Hall decision.

Ms. Kennedy’s supporters say that if she seems less than fervent in her pursuit of Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, it is out of deference to Gov. David A. Paterson, who has discouraged open lobbying for the job. Ms. Kennedy’s own political style seems to have more in common with that of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who once held Mrs. Clinton’s seat: cerebral, restrained, wry.

Few of those interviewed described Ms. Kennedy’s performance over the last two weeks as somehow disqualifying. But it appears to have eroded any sense — real or created — that her selection for the job by Governor Paterson is inevitable.

A Different Kind of Coming Out

Subtle signs of the recession were on display at the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria on Tuesday night. There were fewer debutantes, 47 this year rather than the 58 at the last biennial ball in 2006, and far fewer guests — 662 instead of 976.

Steeped in tradition, the biennial ball is one of the most exclusive debutante galas in New York and around the country, and this year it included young women from 11 states and from England, France, Germany, Greece and Hong Kong.

Some parents recognized the disconnect between the opulence inside the hotel’s gilded doors and the mood beyond them; others took comfort in the fact that the event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity, mainly the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club, a hotel in Manhattan for military members and their families. The director of the ball, Margaret Hedberg, was keenly aware that the ball might seem out of step with the times, but she, too, pointed out that most of the women learned that they were chosen as debutantes long before the financial crisis hit. She brushed off the $14,000 cost of a table — “Watches cost more.”

Darryl McCauley — the brother and bookkeeper of Dane Cook — pilfered money from the “Good Luck Chuck” star’s accounts between June 2007 and earlier this month, according to the Massachusetts attorney general’s office. [New York Post]

The New York Post and The Daily News report that a Brooklyn firefighter escaped death Tuesday when he plunged 30 feet onto a pile of rubble after a porch collapsed as he battled a blaze at a three-story building. [New York Post]

Neediest Cases: After coming home from the hospital to find his apartment cleaned out, an elderly Harlem man had to replace almost everything he owned. [NYT]

Dianna Carlin, the popular Coney Island Boardwalk boutique owner who has been a vocal opponent of the developer Joseph J. Sitt’s plans to build condos in the amusement district, was told her lease would not be renewed. [New York Post]

Werner Wiskari, former foreign correspondent and editor of international news for The New York Times, died at 90. [NYT]

“But Ms. Kennedy’s own political style seems to have more in common with that of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who once held Mrs. Clinton’s seat: cerebral, restrained, wry.” Sorry but this is a ridiculous statement. Sen. Moynihan was a well-spoken, brilliant political scientist. To compare him with the inarticulate, floundering Ms. Kennedy appears to be is just plain silly.

The New York Times cited Maura Moynihan to confirm that Caroline Kennedy was no snob and is qualified to be appointed US Senator from New York. Maura Moynihan is the daughter of the late US Senator from New York.

Ms. Moynihan wrote a piece for the New York Daily News on Sunday, December 28th that spoke of Ms. Kennedy’s qualifications in more detail. Among those qualifications is the fact that Ms. Kennedy is “brilliant, disciplined, a great wit and A WONDERFUL HOSTESS.”

Well, she may not be able to express her thoughts coherently, but she throws great parties for the elite members of society. I guess that qualifies her to get appointed as our next senator.

It seems the majority of support for Ms. Kennedy comes from the media. Comments from readers are overwhelmingly unsupportive of Ms. Kennedy’s quest for a senate seat given–not earned. I’m safe in saying that had Sarah Palin given two weeks of interviews where cohesive thought had to be plucked from a mire of “you know”s, she would have been ridiculed even more so than she was. Ms. Kennedy, please rethink this whole “I wannabe a senator, now”. It’s just a phase all Kennedy’s go through.

Caroline can’t even come close to filling Hillary’s pantsuit. Yes, she has the wrinkles to show perhaps wisdom and maybe experience, but the eyes are vacant. They indicate nothing is behind them (like a brain). To be sure, Kennedy does not need have the goggling bugeyes of Hillary, but lets see a little “life” there puleez. The woman is boring…..

To further the comment of T. Carvajal (post #3), I have asked about 15 friends and acquaintances about the possible appointment of Caroline Kennedy. They are New Yorkers of various political persuasions, from 24 to 80 years old. Two gave lukewarm endorsements, the rest were mildly or strongly against the appointment.

Not a scientific survey, I realize, but I agree that interest in this is largely driven by the media in general, and by journalists who’ve never gotten over their Camelot love affair.

Bottom line: if this were put to a vote, Kennedy would lose. That is precisely why she is seeking an appointment after never showing any interest in public office (beyond raising funds for NYC schools on a part time basis).

First the media promotes her as inevitable and once the hype dies down you wonder why? You guys were trying to sell her, and like the recession of today, no one is buying. Congress needs fresh blood, the stagnancy is caused by the elderly that still reside there and their preoccupation with last century thinking.

How can the people who bashed Governor Palin on experience reverse their standards and say Ms. Kennedy is OK? They are the same people. Additionally, would not everyone like the phone, home and office wiretapped for everyone involved. Wow, that could be a much better story than Illinois. Without those taps, we will just have to wonder what and how big were the deals. Wow, the gossip we can create with no facts, no knowledge and only a wondering mind to create.

To be a successful United States Senator, a person needs experience in the political arena. Making lofty speeches and “caring” about issues is not how the Senate does its work. Ms. Kennedy does not have the appropriate experience necessary for the job.

Perhaps after she built up a successful track record running for and and being elected to a lesser office, or as an appointed head of a government agency, she would be qualified to be a Senator. But not now.

That extended interview with the Times, complete with meticulous transcript and audio snippets, was a dreadful mistake, a complete disaster. I find it impossible to support Kennedy for any public office after suffering through that interview. Not only is the senate out, forget an ambassadorship.

There are some folk, intentions pure,
Who feel the Kennedy allure,
Though her great attributes are fewer,
Than those of her great Dad,
And if she seems verbally slow
Devoid of charismatic glow,
And interjects at times, ‘you know’,
For God’s sake, don’t feel had!

There are here some would-be bards,
With rhymes unfit for greeting cards,
They try to make their readers smile,
But miss their target by a mile,
If their thoughts were worth the fuss,
They wouldn’t waste their words on us.

Rick, oh Rick, your words don’t stick
Your name I can rhyme with Tom and Dick
And other words that might offend
Our monitor here, so to thee I send
My merriest wishes for a much better Year
Hail 2009 — let’s start it, outta here!

I don’t think Kennedy will take a job in the Obama administration. All the cabinet posts are spoken for, and anything below that provides very little visibility and actual responsibility.

As a Senator, she could continue as the well-meaning dilettante she has always been. Then, when she has to run again, her press aides minions would discreetly get the word out that she’s been quietly effective as a Senator, and the press will dutiful repeat it as truth.

I disagree with Rick as to why Caroline Kennedy would not want a position below the top-tier cabinet posts. It is not because such a supporting post would lead to a lack of responsibility but because such a post would mean that she would actually have to work!!

This coming spring mayoral control of NYC schools will be reviewed in Albany. Bloomberg is backing Kennedy in order to obtain support for extending mayoral control despite its failure to evidence any significant results. This is yet another case of “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine.”

Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheeky is so high on Coke or Red-bull that he comes across as shrilly and untrustworthy thus further sinking the SS Kennedy. This Shell game is worse than Chicago with no New Yorkers having a voice in who fills Hillary Clinton’s soon to be vacated Senate Seat, instead awarding it to Ms. Judas by birthright. Governor Paterson seems to be choosing by who can help keep his job humming along in Albany when he was appointed to his position of Governor and who will least likely defeat him. He does not have the experience to pick a candidate, just the legal right as does the Chicago Governor. There are other candidates who are being glossed over including Teacher’s Union President Randi Weingarten who has fought for Schools longer than the Camelot Princess. She fought the Guiliani administration’s education cuts, Bloomberg’s wink to privatization take-over, Joel Klein’s bureaucratic incompetence and lisping Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s full deck of playing cards including buying a third Mayoralty term, running for Governor, running for Hillary’s seat and then running for President should the inexperienced Barack falleth in poll numbers. The Democrats are in danger of putting themselves back in the minority with this undemocratic process. They also need to face the reality that the party is missing progressive latino/a representation which may provide many openings on the other side of the aisle. Caroline Kennedy should run for City Council but she would retort: “Like, ya know, that would be beneath me!” Has she actually been to the other Boroughs and not just to get to the airport? She needs to have the endorsement of poor New Yorkers, not Democrat New Porkers!

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